Nintendo Download: 20th June (Europe)

So E3 is now but a fading memory, but at least we have a lot of Wii U and 3DS games on the way to keep us entertained for the rest of the year. One of those lands as Wii U DLC today, while the 3DS is pretty much overflowing with varied offerings, including the second entry from the Guild02 series. Let's get to it.

Wii U Retail DLC

New Super Luigi U (Nintendo, €19.99 / £17.99) — A significant "Year of Luigi" arrival and, perhaps more importantly, a big release to tide over Wii U owners. This eShop release will function as DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U before arriving as a standalone retail release next month, providing over 80 levels with Luigi as the star and the inclusion of a practically invincible Nabbit in multiplayer. It'll feature redesigned stages to suit Luigi's abilities — including a flutter jump — and looks like typical 2D platforming fun. We'll wear some green and check this out for a review.

Wii U Virtual Console

Mario Bros. (Nintendo, €4.99 / £3.49) — Now we're really kicking it old school, as this NES port of the original Mario Bros. arcade makes its appearance on the Wii U Virtual Console. Luigi fans should know that this one was the green one's first appearance, offering up single screen challenges to flip over and kick plenty of foes. This one's perhaps a little dated now, but we'll get kitted out for a trip into the pipes for an updated review; until then, you can see what we said in our Wii Virtual Console Mario Bros. review.

Wrecking Crew (Nintendo, €4.99 / £3.49) — This NES platform puzzler makes its third Virtual Console appearance, as it recently landed on the 3DS eShop's platform. It provides fairly standard 8-bit fare, but multiplayer and a level editor — which includes the option to save your creations on the VC — add a little extra depth. We'll see how the Wii U version stacks up, but until then you can check out our 3DS Virtual Console Wrecking Crew review.

Wii U eShop Temporary Discount

3DS eShop

BUGS vs. TANKS! (Level-5, €7.99 / £7.19) — The second of three Guild02 titles coming to the 3DS eShop, this contribution comes from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. Footage to date has shown what looks like a basic action game as tanks fight — you guessed it — big bugs, but the official blurb promises local wireless co-op for up to four players, StreetPass implementation and a large variety of tank parts for customisation. We'll don our helmets and charge into battle for a review.

3D Game Collection (Joindots, €24.99 / £11.99) — This title comes with an extraordinary price discrepancy between mainland Europe and the UK, with the latter still being a fair bit more expensive than the North American release. As a collection of small games, meanwhile, it's hit and miss for a mediocre overall experience; check out our 3D Game Collection review for more details.

Gardenscapes (Joindots, €24.99 / £14.99) — Rather like 3D Game Collection, this title has had a price bump on its way to Europe. This one is partly about maintaining and designing a desirable garden space, while there's also some hidden object gameplay included; it may appeal to any horticulturally-minded 3DS owners out there. Not perfect by any means, we nevertheless had some positive things to say in our Gardenscapes review.

Witch's Cat (Agetec, €4.99 / £4.49) — A spin-off from the Rabi Laby titles on DSiWare, this is a challenging puzzle game that sees you make use of magic abilities to progress. This offers plenty of challenge, nf some occasions with too much of a difficulty spike, but it still earned a solid recommendation in our Witch's Cat review.

101 DinoPets 3D (Selectsoft, €4.00 / £3.59) — Pet sims are common on the DS family of systems and, gradually, on the 3DS, but this one is undoubtedly unique in making you look after and dress up dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong? According to our 101 DinoPets 3D review, quite a lot.

3DS Virtual Console

Defenders of Oasis (SEGA, €3.99 / £3.59) — The collection of Game Gear titles on the 3DS eShop continues to grow with this Japanese-style RPG, where you're tasked with recruiting allies and taking down an evil wizard. Sounds like a normal day in the office, and we'll let you know how the quest goes in a review, soon.

Tails Adventure (SEGA, €4.99 / £4.49) — It's inevitable that sidekicks get spin-off games of their own, and this Game Gear example sees Sonic's trusty assistant embark on 12 missions to gather mechanical parts for a mysterious machine. We'll see whether Tails is up to going solo in our upcoming review.

3DS eShop Discount

DSiWare

Armageddon Operation Dragon (EnjoyUp Games, 500 Nintendo Points) — With a storyline of saving the world while riding on top of a dragon, this one undoubtedly has the potential to be a lot of fun. However, it joins a list of vertical overhead runners from this development studio that have been largely panned by the Nintendo Life team; this one is no exception in our Armageddon Operation Dragon review.

Just the free demo for me

Nothing for me this week

Welsh ex-pat Tom is responsible for the day-to-day running of the site. He's the guy to thank for the generally brilliant nature of the content which massages your eyeballs on a daily basis. Also has an unhealthy obsession with all things Bowser.

@SilentHunter382 , I want the retail version too but I'm thinking maybe it's better off getting the DLC, playing it to death and keeping the retail game in a nice sealed box just in case it ever becomes valuable.

Defenders of Oasis should be another good GG title. Will also probably get Tails' Adventure (GG).Will get the Luigi DLC later down the line, as i haven't got too far into NSMBU yet, really enjoyed what i played so far.Not sure about Mario Bros (NES) on Wii U. I really like the game, but i already have it in Yoshi's Island (3DS) and Super Mario All Stars/SMB3.Good discount on Super Little Acorns, looked like a good game too.

Can I ask why NintendoLife keeps reviewing the games when they end up on a different platform? Surely it's a bit pointless reviewing Yoshi as you did last week when it was reviewed for 3DS only last year (or the year before maybe?)... Same goes with the Mario Bros game. How is it going to be any different to the Wii VC version at all?

I'll be getting New Super Luigi U and Maga Man VC game, as i'm playing The Last Of Us at the moment. So i'll will probably buy some more VC games after i've finished some of the games i'm already playing. Cannot wait for Ducktales & Castle of illusions,

I don't mean no offence, but, as I said (and rightly IMO) the VC so far on the Wii U has being no more than a major disappointment, we all know about the lack of releases on the Wii U, and I just feel that Nintendo should be putting far more effort into the VC, it's bad enough that no GameCube games have come to the VC or even been announced, but, not even having any N64 games on the VC is ridiculous.

@CliffordB: You do have a point there. I'm still not satisfied with the 3DS's VC either, but it is improving with time. I don't understand why Nintendo can't pump out a constant flow of titles to the VC each week.

Exactly, it makes no sense why Nintendo is holding back so many games on the VC, especially ones that have already been released on the Wii VC, surely it would not have hurt them to at least have a few N64 titles up by now, things like SM64, MK64 etc. but, still nothing, all we keep getting is ancient NES games that the majority of people don't care about.

As I said with the lack of releases in general for the Wii U, Nintendo should be really making good use of the VC right now, it would help to tide us all over while we wait for Wii U releases, many not out until 2014.

@CliffordB: Very well, you made your point my friend. As for "the ancient NES titles" that nobody cares about... I love NES games. I don't know how old you are, but they were part of my childhood, and a great part at that. I have a fine appreciation for retro gaming.

Wow there's so much to download this week!! I'm gonna have to stay my hand & try to avoid buying too much haha. I really want the Luigi DLC, despite it being rather expensive (at least when I think how much it'll be in North America) so I'm gonna buy that when I can & I'll look into everything else & might get the 3DS discount & maybe some 3DSware. Awesome!

Because the NES games are way too hard for him to beat... Back in the olden days we didn't need save states, auto saves & infintile continues there were times when you had to leave your system running for days without turning it off before finally completing a game (Chakan)

Eh, I'm still waiting for Majora's Mask to show up on the VC. It probably will be a while though so I could catch up on some NES and SNES (well, NES this week) gaming in the meantime.
Edit: Wait, this is Europe... Oops

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against NES/SNES titles I also grew up with them, the point I was trying to make is that it would be nice to see something a little more modern/recent thrown into the mix.

I just feel many of the NES and to a lesser extent SNES titles have been seen a little to often now, that's just my take and feelings on it, I suppose I'd just like to be playing something a little more recent on my Wii U, this is just my own personal opinion.

@RupeeClock I hear you brother about Cave Story its getting silly how long thats taking now, however ive been waiting for Super Little Acorns 3D to get reduced so now ill jump in and try this little gem £5 no £2.50 YES.

I've been waiting ages for Defenders of Oasis, I can't believe it's gonna be out this week! Man, I'm up to my head with games, you caught me at a bad time Nintendo! I have Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity to play (although I already bet the main story and bonus story of PMD, I am playing through DLC and building my paradise up).

I just asked my local game store how much Luigi would cost retail and they answered a whopping €40,-. That's a €10,- step-up from what you would expect, and €20,- more than the download version. Ugh. I really want the retail one but with prices like these... I dunno.

Luigi DLC is good value, less than £20, I was expecting it cost £30 due it essentially a game in itself albeit using NSMBU world map, and obviously assets to build the new levels.Maybe it's because I'me so used to dlc being high priced for what you actually get on ps3.

Another very disappointing offering on eshop for the Wii U this week. Luigi U is just Mario dressed up with a new move or two. Why do Nintendo keep giving us 2d side scrollers from NES and for the Wii U? This isn't what we want, we've moved forward. Pre-ordered my PS4 and was going to keep my Wii U but unless Wonderful 101 and Pikmin 3 turn out to be amazing games, it's going to be traded in near Xmas. I'll pick another one up when SSB and MK8 get released.

i'll get luigi u as a standalone, i just need to have my physical copies. bugs vs tanks will have to wait till it gets a discount. and let that be the reason i'll get Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo. i already have most the vc games anyway.

@KnightRider666 same here. Im still of the oppinion 5 games a week should be getting pumped out on VC but I guess someone doesn't agree with that. how hard is it to convert a game to VC? and.......doesn't Nintendo like making money? Haha

Great job Nintendo, that's the kind of thing that will make people eagerly await the eShop updates. I remember back in the early days of VC on Wii, it felt kind of similar.

With New Luigi, will it be better to buy or download. If you download, will you will be able to play the Mario version. If you buy, do you get both Luigi and Mario Bros versions? If you get both with the bought version (provided its cheap), that's a bargain.

Tails Adventure? YES!! THAT is the Game Gear game I've been waiting for. Instant buy and nearly completes what I personally wanted out of the 3DS VC. Just Pokemon to go to complete the portable retro package I want.

New Super Luigi U is a buy for sure too. Maybe Little Inferno as well.